Diverse Effects of Hypoxia on Tumor Progression, 2010 Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology Series, Vol. 345

Hypoxia, defined as reduced oxygen tension, is a common physiological phenomenon in both normal embryonic development and malignancy progression. Although severe hypoxia is generally toxic for both normal tissue and tumors, neoplastic cells gradually adapt to prolonged hypoxia though additional genetic and genomic changes with a net result that hypoxia promotes tumor progression and therapeutic resistance. Hypoxia promotes cancer progression by regulating various aspects of cancer biology, including radiotherapy resistance, metabolism, angiogenesis and invasion/migration

Preface.- The HIF-2alpha-driven pseudo-hypoxic phenotype in tumor aggressiveness, differentiation and vascularization.- Hypoxia and hypoxia inducible factors in cancer stem cell maintenance.- Role of carcinoma-associated fibroblasts and hypoxia in tumor progression.- the role of hypoxia regulated microRNAs in cancer.- Hypoxia-inducible factors as essential regulators of inflammation.- Hypoxia and metastasis in breast cancer. Subject Index